In depth articles
I believe that detailed knowledge and understanding provides an essential foundation for the work that I do in designing gardens for my clients; and that this is worth sharing with a wider audience. These articles are my own distillation of some of what I have learned over years of reading and study, and cover a range of topics in botany, soil science, design theory and many other areas of knowledge.
Where possible, I’ve attempted to explain my own understanding from first principles, meaning that some articles stray into core sciences such as chemistry and physics; and a few may be a little technical. I hope you find as much value in reading them as I did in writing them.
If you’re new to plant and soil science, you may want to read this article first.
To find a specific article, filter by category or use the search box.
Family values
This final article on plant classification looks into the idea of plant families, and why it is helpful to know which family a particular plant belongs to.
The cycle of life
An overview of the main stages of a plant's life cycle, from seed germination to senescence and death, together with a discussion of how some plants benefit from completing their lifecycle in a particular lifespan.
Counting seed leaves
An overview of the main differences between monocotyledonous ("monocots") and eudicotyledonous ("eudicots") plants; although defined by the number of seed leaves ("cotyledons"), this is not the most important difference.
What’s in a name?
An explanation of the Linnaean taxonomy for classifying organisms; an introduction to botanical Latin, and a discussion of the reasons for its use.
From moss to flowers
An overview of the four main groups of plants and some of the key differences between them.